COTYi,EDONS. S89 



belliferous plants, or exceiitric, out of the 

 centre, as in Coffee ; in Grasses however it 

 is external. Its direction is either straight, 

 curved, or even spiral, in various instances. 

 The Embryo of seeds that have a single 

 cotyledon, or none at all, is peculiarly 

 simple, without any notch or lobe, and is 

 named by Gaertner Embryo inonocotyh' 

 done us. 



Cofi/Iedo72es, the Cotyledons or Seed- 

 lobes, are immediately attached to the 

 Embryo, of which they form, properly 

 speaking, a part. They are commonly two 

 in number,/. 7 ; but in Pi7»/5,and Dombeya, 

 the Norfolk Island Pine, they are more, /'. 3, 

 as already mentioned, p. 98. When the 

 seed has sufficiently established its root, 

 these generally rise out of the ground, and 

 become a kind of leaves. Such is the true 

 idea of the organs in question, but the 

 same name is commonly given to the body 

 of the seed in the Grass and Corn tribe, 

 the Palms, and several other plants, thence 

 denominated monocotijledones^ because the 

 supposed Cotyledon is single. The nature 

 of this part we shall presently explain. It 

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